All posts tagged packages

Have you ever received a big box from an e-tailer containing tiny items and lots of filler?

An Amazon Prime box recently arrived at the WSJ’s Atlanta buro containing a paperback book and some ear buds which took up less than a third of the space inside the box – air cushions filled the rest.

And Amazon’s aren’t the only ones. Online customer-service tracker StellaService had mystery shoppers order 2,253 packages delivered by FedEx over the past six months. Of those, 9% were shown to have a “poor” package fit – deemed extremely wasteful and inefficient. Last year, StellaService found that beauty retailers were the worst culprits when it comes to excess packaging.

Adding to the jam, UPS is in the midst of its peak week, when it expects to deliver 132 million packages worldwide at a rate of about 300 packages per second. UPS wouldn’t say how many packages are still at a standstill in Texas, but a number of customers have taken to social media to complain about it.

Cooper Smith Koch was one. He waited a week for what was supposed to be a two-day Amazon Prime delivery after it got stuck in the metro area. Amazon gave him an extra two months of Prime membership in return.

United Parcel Service is in the midst of its peak week, when it expects to deliver 132 million packages worldwide at a rate of about 300 packages per second.

The carrier’s peak day was Monday, when it picked up a record 34 million shipments – many of those going to its largest distribution hub, Worldport. The Louisville, Ken.-based facility sorted 3 million packages with the help of more than 9,000 employees. Planes were landing on the two runways at a fast clip early into the morning, with about 130 eventually docking to unload packages at the 5.2 million square foot facility. Worldport staff dub the action this week their “playoffs.”

Worldport’s busiest day is expected to be Dec. 23 – known as the facility’s “Super Bowl” – when it expects to sort 3.6 million packages on the last day customers can ship in time for Christmas.

We’ve got video from the heart of the action, after the jump… Read More »